Okay, so I know the last chapter was a bit, er, different lol, we'll leave it at that. This chapter, well I know it doesn't go much of anywhere but it introduces a new character you'll all be familiar with, and hopefully like as much as I do. Ruine, you're right, Train is a poor confused guy who everyone seems to want a piece of lol. Sadly for some, and thankfully for others there is a bit of a break from that. As of now I'm working on homework for school and the next chapter where I finally get to write some crazy, Hades filled action. I absolutely love the fight scenes in the anime, so this is exciting for me.

On a sadder note I just saw the final episode of the anime series today..and it was sad! (A minor spoiler ahead) While it was awesome with great fight scenes the end made me sad when Train went off on his own…sad day!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the latest installment of this one and the next chapter should be up either tonight or tomorrow, depends on when I can get in the mood to write an action scene full of, well, awesome Train fighting! Lol Enjoy my friends, and thank you so much for your reviews, they are ALWAYS appreciated! X3 (Train face!)

"A Shadow of the Past"

Four more months had passed since that night…four months of twists and turns, ups and downs, and times when I was tempted to hold Hades to my head and pull the trigger. Creed had offered to give me the power of the Tao countless times, and Doctor had done the same, but every single time I refused. It wasn't something I was looking for.

The doors of Creeds mansion had been made unpassable by Echidna after my several attempts to escape. Now, each time I exited one of the main doors unaccompanied and unallowed I would end up stepping into a portal that would send me right to Creeds room, that way he would know what I had been trying to do. Bad Train, no dinner tonight…that was the punishment. Needless to say I went several nights without dinner and going to bed hungry, but I didn't mind seeing as I had brought it upon myself.

Within those four months only one more night like the other occurred, and this one was entirely against my will. I had actually fought him off, tried to get away, but in the end Creeds strength given to him by the Tao had overcome mine and I had been forced to submit.

"I won't go all the way this time, Train," He had whispered in my ear as his hand had worked back and forth between my legs and I had tried so hard not to scream. "When I do, I want you to cry out with me-I want you to want what I want."

I had struggled, tried to get away, but for some reason, that particular night Creed had found it in him somewhere to throw me against a wall and force himself on me. I hadn't expected it, so of course he had had the upper hand, but I still cursed myself for letting him win.

"You'll learn to enjoy this," He had murmured in my ear after kissing me, his hand still where I wished it wouldn't be. "I know you will, my Train."

I screamed, gritted my teeth and tried to hide the fact that pleasure was coursing itself through my body. I had cried out as he had gripped in between my legs,

"That's right Train," His voice came to him. "Let me hear you moan, beg for more."

In the end I had cried out again…just like the first time. Whether I liked it or not what Creed was doing to me was sending shockwaves of pleasure through my shaking body and it was reacting in a way I was praying it wouldn't.

In a dazed state I lay there, my eyes as blank as my expression as they stared up at the canopy above us. He had talked to me for hours, running his fingers through my hair, telling me of the many stories of his past, of Chronos, and now of his Apostles of the Stars. I hadn't said a word or made a sound for the rest of the night…I just wanted to scream. I wanted…Sven.

As if I didn't hate myself enough right about now, I had Creed to make it worse. I lay in bed, my arms wrapped around my waist and the side of my face buried into my pillow. I wanted to scream, cry, anything that I had always been taught I couldn't do. Damn Zagine and his stupid rules, damn Chronos for erasing all of that, damn my parents for not being around.

I couldn't blame them, I knew that, but deep down their blame was one that should be my own. I had caused all of this, or so it would seem. If I hadn't left Chronos would Creed have gone the way he did? If I had just agreed to join the Apostles of the Stars would Creed have calmed down and would I have been able to destroy them from the inside out?

No, even if I had I'd still be in this situation. I'd still be lying in this now empty bed cursing myself, wishing this body wasn't my own, and wishing the actions of the past night had never happened-or that I had at least resisted them.

I pulled my legs up further beneath the covers, cringing as I felt how soar my abdomen and pelvis was. God, I was an idiot, a plain flat out idiot just as Zagine had always said. What was wrong with me? Normally, in any other situation I wouldn't thrown Creed off me and threatened to kill him, or at least beat the living hell out of him, but last night I had just lay there…I had even shown him I liked it.

I gagged and shoved my face further into my pillow. Who was I these days? Five months here and Creed was already having his way…and I was letting him. This was ridiculous, this wasn't who I was, or who I had even been or planned to be.

My mind came to a sudden halt when I heard soft footsteps behind me and the sound of the door shutting. Whoever they were they were trying to be as quiet as possible, and with my hearing, not quiet achieving it. I didn't move; just simply lay there as they came closer to the bed. I knew those footsteps. It wasn't Creed, or any of the Apostles of the Stars, it wasn't even a member of Chronos coming to take my life, or pay me to take Creeds. It was someone else, and even though my heart should have been racing with excitement I felt some sort of cold, dark anger surging through me…they could have stopped all of this…if only they had come sooner.

"So you finally decided to come?" I asked quietly from where I lay, my back still facing them.

"Finally?" Their voice came, sounding a bit shocked. "I'm sorry Train, we've been looking for a while. This place is harder to find than you th-"

"Sure," I muttered, looking out the open window opposite from where I lay. "You can say what you want and I'll just pretend I believe you, like old times-"

I rolled over to look him in the eyes and he seemed shocked, who knows why. In Five months I had lost enough weight to notice, and I'm sure after last night I looked more than disturbed.

"Eh, Sven?" I finished as I gave him a cold and unfeeling stare.

"Train," He took a step forward, setting his briefcase on the floor as he did. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine," I replied as I sat up, letting the covers fall away to let him see the remains of what Creed had done to me five months ago, but there were new scars now, ones in my mind I would never let Sven see.

Sven eyed me, and I knew he didn't believe a word I said. I reached over to the chair beside me and grabbed my shirt, slipping it on before standing and doing the same with my pants. I shoved Hades back into its holster before turning and regarding Sven, who was now staring at me with even wider eyes.

"What?" I snapped as I latched Hades holster shut. "Did you want something?"

"Train, I came here to bring you back," He said, looking hurt. "Don't…you want to come back?"

"I did," I replied as I brushed past him and made my way over to the window. "But seeing as you took so long…I was beginning to wonder if you were coming at all."

"How can you say that, Train?" Sven cried, his temper rising as usual. "Of course we were looking for you! We've been trying to find you this entire time."

"Took you long enough," I muttered as I glared out the window. "I was waiting for a while-really, I was," At this I turned around, giving him a look I couldn't name. "But you never came, Sven, you never…"

I couldn't finish the sentence-I could barely get the words out in the first place as my throat tightened. I had been abandoned so many times before by my parents, Zagine, even Chronos, so why was I feeling like this? This was a normal part of my life; this was just another supposed friend who didn't really care as much as they pretended they did.

I cursed silently as I felt tears well up in my eyes, but before they could fall-before Sven could see I turned away and looked back out the window. How long had it been since I had cried? I don't even remember crying over Saya's body…I know I didn't…I had been too angry with Creed.

But here I stood with tears streaming down my face, my breaths coming in short gasps, and no matter how hard I tried to conceal the tears from Sven I knew he could hear it, and I knew he knew.

"Train," His voice was suddenly close as his hand rested on my shoulder. "I'm sorry… We should've come sooner…you're right…but Creed didn't make it easy."

I looked away as he came around and tried to get a good look at my face. I hated myself for crying, and especially in front of Sven…someone who had maybe respected me once.

"I'm sure the princess didn't want to come," I laughed through the tears, finally looking up at him…it didn't matter anymore, and he didn't seem to mind the tears. "She always wanted to take my place, ya know?"

"Actually, Eve's the one who found this place," He smiled, brushing the tears away from my cheeks as he spoke. "She was really worried about you."

"Sven," I lowered my head and looked at the floor, not knowing if I wanted to go with him, or find somewhere new to start my life. "Wouldn't you rather just find a new partner? I mean I-"

"No." Sven cut me off in mid sentence, knowing what I was going to say.

I didn't know how I was feeling, or what it was I wanted to say. Really, I wanted to punch him in the face and scream at him, to tell him how much I had been hurt in those five months, and that now that he was finally here I didn't really need him…I'd already been hurt enough.

"You were always there for me," I said, my eyes looking past him to the view outside the window. "You listened…sort of…you cared, I think."

"Train, of course I-"

"I started to rely on you, Sven," I cut him off, my voice rising slightly. "Because I thought you cared. You weren't like the others, you listened, you waited for me, you got mad at me but forgave me…"

"Train…" He didn't know what to say but my anger kept rising as he stood there in front of me, looking as though he couldn't understand when he had understood so many times before.

"I waited for you, Sven!" I yelled, my voice suddenly much louder than before, making him flinch slightly. "I stood here and waited for you for five months! I wanted to die! I couldn't get out of here, they locked me in and it was impossible for me to leave!"

I turned and crossed halfway through the room before turning to look at him again.

"Don't you get it? Don't you realize why I'm so mad?" I wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him as he stared blankly. "I waited! I don't normally do that…ever. They tried to change me, tried to turn me into one of them but I refused and you know why?"

He just stared back, looking almost frightened.

"Because I was waiting for you to come find me, I was waiting to go back to that life we had…the one I actually liked!" I cried, the tears back in my eyes and my voice sounding almost frantic. "Maybe you didn't want me back-maybe-maybe you were hoping I'd die or go back to Chronos. If that was it then you should never have come, or if that is it, you might as well shoot me now!"

Sven crossed the room slowly before winding back his arm and hitting me across the face with the back of his hand. I stumbled backwards, my hand flying up to my cheek as I watched him. This wasn't the first time he had hit me, and the only reason he had done it then and now was to knock some sense into me, but this time around it hadn't worked.

"Listen to yourself, Train!" He cried, advancing forward so that we were only feet apart, his glare strengthening with each step. "I am not going to shoot you, and I don't want to hear you talk about this as if we abandoned you! We tried to find you, and now we have. You can be as mad as you want, that won't change anything, but we're here, and we want to bring you home. I was hoping that would be enough for you to forgive us."

I let my hand drop from my face as I studied him. Forgive them? Was that what he wanted? It was such a simple idea to go with them and leave this place behind. If they had gotten in they had obviously avoided Echidna's portals at each door and window, invisible as they were. I studied him, wanting to throw myself at him, to hug him, to remember what it was like to be with him again, but something inside me held me back, told me I couldn't…maybe I was afraid he'd hurt me like Creed had.

"Where are the others?" I asked slowly. "Who all is here?"

"Eve, Rinslet, and River are in the mansion finding a way out currently," Sven replied, his look as placid as mine as we both tried to keep our composure. "The rest, River, Selphie, and the others are in a boat outside."

"And you think you can find a way out?" I asked calmly.

"Yes," He nodded.

"So if I go with you…" I paused, the idea seeming to good to be true. "If I go with you…what will you do when Creed comes looking for me?"

"We'll send you after him," And then he smiled, that smile that always made me feel like everything was going to work out, whether Sven believed it or not. "You're not just any ordinary cat you know."

I kept a straight face as he joked around, tipping his hat slightly as he waited for a response.

"First of all," I began as I took a step forward, snatched the cigarette from his mouth, and threw it out the open window. "You have to stop doing that. Do you want Creed to smell you from a mile away?"

He reached for his pocket to pull out another one but I was faster, yanking the pack of cigarettes out and throwing them after the other one, before pushing him by the shoulder towards his briefcase.

"I don't know what sort of insane plan you've got in that head of yours," I replied as I snatched my long black coat from a chair nearby and pulled it on. "But I'm sure it'll be just as interesting as one of mine."

I flashed him a grin, letting him know that even though I was still furious with him, even though I wanted to punch him and maybe throw him out the window after his cigarettes, I wanted to go with them. No matter how hard I tried to deny the fact, I needed to leave here…I needed to get away from these memories no matter how hard Creed would try to resist.

"Just like your old self I see," He smiled as we headed towards the door side by side. "Still got those major mood swings."

"And you're still just as old as the last time I saw you," I shot back before elbowing him in the side.

It felt good to be back together again, back with someone I knew cared. No matter how hard I tried to resist the fact that yes, I was mad, seeing him, hearing his voice again brought back the memories of a life I still wanted to live, and that I refused to let end here.